Home
by GSRsara4eva1623
Summary: Grissom is lecturing when Sara decides she needs to talk with him. Pre-season 10 and Sara's return to Vegas. GSR


**Disclaimer:** CSI is not mine and never will be, and neither is Daughtry.

**A/N:** So I don't really know why I'm posting this. I wrote it over a year ago and it's so not even relevant anymore considering the changes to GSR, but I found it on my flashdrive and I'm trying to get back into this whole fanfiction thing. I never stopped reading but I haven't written in awhile and I feel like a lot of the GSR fans have stopped too. Its sad considering the turn their relationship has taken on the show. Anyway, this is just a short piece that takes place before Sara's return to Vegas in season 10. Enjoy.

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**I don't regret this life I chose for me**

**But these places and these faces are getting old **

**So I'm going home**

** ~ Home by Daughtry **

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"…and that is why insects can provide some of the most vital information to an investigation," Grissom said, clicking his PowerPoint to the black 'end show' slide. With a cursory glance at his watch, he dismissed the lecture hall of about two hundred students. "That'll be enough for today…We'll be viewing some crime scene photographs tomorrow. Some of you might find it more manageable if you don't eat breakfast before class," he advised. There was a collective groan from the majority of his audience almost inaudible over the hustle and bustle of collecting book bags and rushing to another class.

Sitting in the last row, she waited until everyone had cleared out aside from a small group of students who had gathered at the lecture hall's floor to ask a few follow up questions. Sara gathered her things and meandered down the aisle, wanting to speak to the man with the piercingly blue eyes in private.

She was wearing jean shorts and a t-shirt, her hair tossed carelessly into a ponytail at the back of her neck and as she approached his eyes landed on her, the woman who had helped move his lecture along with endless questions when the rest of his audience remained passive. Quickly he wrapped up the short Q&A session, watching the rest of his students pack up and disappear.

"Ms. Sidle, you ask too many questions for your own good."

"So I've been told," she smirked. "But I have one more…What do you want for dinner?" she asked, following him over to a table as he began putting away his laptop and papers.

"You came all the way down here to ask me that? You know you could've just picked up a phone instead of wasting two hours of your day listening to me drone on about bugs."

"First of all, it's a five minute walk from our apartment to here, hardly worth an "all the way", and you always turn off your phone when you lecture, and usually forget to turn it back on. Plus, I would never pass up the chance to observe one of your classes."

"I'm pretty sure you did more than observe," he pointed out. She had been the only one to raise her hand during the two hour class.

"Well these kids were so boring. I mean really, how could they not have follow up questions about a case where a guy kills himself and his friend with a chainsaw all by accident?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," he said, tucking his laptop back into its case. She was stalling, he could tell, but what she was putting off he didn't know. "Can I help you with anything else, Ms Sidle?" he asked, taking on his teacher's voice and using the title he knew she hated even though she hadn't taken his name.

"Ecklie called," she blurted, appearing a little less sure of herself than when she'd approached him. He turned to face her, appearing relaxed leaning against the table, his fingers curled around the edge.

"He does know we're away right? I can't do any consulting jobs if we live halfway around the world."

"He knows. That's not what he was asking about," Sara said, pushing an unruly strand of hair back behind her ear.

"So what did he want?" Grissom asked, noticing her hesitation over whatever the call had been about.

"He wanted to know if we could recommend someone to replace Riley, even if it would just be temporary."

"I can call him back with a few names," Grissom said, though he could tell that wasn't what was troubling her. Her eyes had dropped from his face, choosing to watch her hands as she spun her wedding ring around her finger. Grissom took her hands, stopping the nervous movement. She looked up at him. "What's wrong? There's something you're not telling me."

"I told Ecklie I could do it."

"Okay."

"But I said I had to talk to you first."

"If you think you need to go, go," Grissom said, his tone not harsh but instead reassuring, squeezing her hand comfortingly. She sighed.

"I think I was hoping you'd tell me to stay," Sara said, her voice surprisingly neutral. "So I wouldn't have to make a decision."

"If you're not sure, I can call Ecklie and make up some reason why you can't go back there. I could tell him you're a guest speaker for some of my lectures… After all, you almost had an emotional break down while working at the lab, I think he would understand my reluctance towards sending you back there," Grissom said, tugging her over to the cushioned seats of the auditorium's front row. After they sat down, he continued. "Honey, if you think going back to Vegas is something you need to do, I'm not going to stop you. But you worked so hard to recover from everything that I can't let you go back there if it'll just make you start over."

"No, I… I think it would be good for me. You know, so I could leave on my own terms this time and put to rest everything I left behind twice…And I'd love to see the guys again, Catherine too. I think I can handle it."

"Okay. Then we can call Ecklie back and see when the next flight to Vegas is," Grissom said, taking his gaze off her as they heard the commotion of college kids entering the auditorium for the day's next lecture. They both stood from their chairs and Grissom finished retrieving his lecture materials. "You're bored of Paris already?"

"I can only play tourist for so long, Gil. I mean, I don't have a job or anything here, I need something to do during the day when you're out teaching."

"You don't need to stay here just for me," he said. She just nodded.

After a minute of quiet, "So…" Sara began, appearing less stressed after informing Grissom of Ecklie's phone call. "What do you want for dinner? I need to go shopping"

"Why don't we go out to eat? We can make a toast to new beginnings in Las Vegas."

"Yea, because that sounds promising," was her sarcastic reply.

**Fin**

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**A/N:** Please take a moment to review :)


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